What happened?
We recently learned from our email services provider, Epsilon, that a limited amount of information for some HSN customers was accessed by an unauthorized individual or individuals. However, no financial data, or other sensitive information, was accessed. The information accessed was limited to the customer's name and email address. Although HSN's databases were never compromised, customer trust is extremely important to HSN. Therefore, we felt it was important to notify our customers of this incident as soon as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers and have shared with them a number of email precautions to help ensure their privacy online.

How will this affect me?
In many cases, it won't. Only names and email addresses were accessed. Other customer information is secure within our databases, which have some of the strongest safeguards in the retail industry. You may receive some unsolicited emails (spam) as a result of this incident. HSN wants to remind you not to open emails from senders you do not know. Also, HSN would never ask you to email personal information, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers. If you receive such a request, please do not respond, click on any links, or download any attachments.

Why did I receive notification on this incident?
Customer trust is extremely important to HSN. Therefore, we felt it was essential to notify our customers of this incident as soon as possible. We are closely monitoring the situation and if we have additional information to share we will either follow up with you personally or via this site.

Why does HSN use an outside email services provider?
HSN utilizes an email services provider named Epsilon to distribute its marketing emails. This is common practice in the business world and helps ensure that our emails are sent in a timely manner and that the content is in the correct format for our customers to view.

Am I a victim of identity theft?
The information that was accessed was limited to your name and email address. No financial data such as your social security number or credit card numbers, or other sensitive information typically used to attempt identity theft was accessed.

Exactly what information was compromised?
The information accessed was limited to the customer's first name, last name and email address. No financial data or other sensitive information was accessed.

What are you doing in terms of future security?
HSN values its customers' trust and is taking necessary steps to safeguard your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously and the appropriate authorities have been contacted regarding this incident. We have taken additional steps to minimize this type of exposure in the future and continue to take all proper measures to keep your personal information secure at HSN.

How will I know what a suspicious email from HSN would look like?
HSN will direct you back to our own web site to review product or make a purchase. We will never ask you for sensitive information via an email. If you have any doubts, you may call us at 1-800-933-2887 or email us at customerservice@hsn.com.

Can I be removed from your email list?
You can opt out of receiving future promotional emails from HSN via the "My Account" page at hsn.com or by clicking on an opt-out link found at the bottom of any emails you have received from HSN.

I received a survey for HSN. Is this coming from HSN or is it potential spam?
HSN does occasionally send out surveys specific to product or customer experiences. These surveys may include links that take you to web pages to record your opinions/feedback. All HSN surveys are sent from the same address as Today’s Special alerts and When-to-Watch messages, to name a couple of examples. As long as you see “HSN (CommunityNews@email-hsn.com)” in the “from” field, you can be assured that it is coming directly from HSN. Please remember, we do not ask for any sensitive information (such as credit card number or social security number) when asking you to complete a survey. Sometimes, when completing a survey, we may ask for your age group, gender, and other similar data, but all of these fields are optional.

Another survey we conduct is facilitated by an organization called the CFI Group. This survey focuses solely on the customer service experience. The “from” field will have the address CFIMailer@jangomail.com. Again, we do not ask for any sensitive data in this survey.

Do I need to do anything?
Email scams, spam, and other attacks on email systems are on the rise, but, by taking certain precautions when receiving emails, you can continue to safely use email for your business and personal needs:

• Don't open links or attachments from people you don't know and trust.
  
• Don't provide personal, financial, or other sensitive information when asked to do so by email. Most reputable companies do not ask for such information by email, and, rest assured, we will not do so.
  
• If you receive an email appearing to come from us that does ask you for sensitive information, please do not respond, click on any links, or download any attachments.